Hericide
by Divine Angle
Summary: Shadow the Hedgehog doesn't remember his past, yet is constantly told to adhere to it. He is told of his heritage, and is commanded to put loyalty to it. He is told that he made a promise, yet doesn't remember making it. When no options are left to you, what is left to do but destroy that which tries to command you without knowing you?
1. Doom

**A/N:** Thank you immensely for deciding to take the time to read this story. I should hope you'll enjoy what you read, as the enjoyment of reader and writer is always my goal.

I do not own the cover image used for this story.

With that said, please, read on...

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><p><strong>Doom<strong>

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><p>The fires created a nightmarish view of the city below. Somehow, the Black Comet's presence in the sky tinted the world a dark red, likely the gas it was releasing into the atmosphere. Shadow hardly felt the heat this gas somehow brought along with it, his Chaos Emerald enhanced state giving him an edge in this manner.<p>

His focus was filled with something else at the moment, however. The giant, airborne form of Black Doom's transformed visage was rather distracting in its own right.

The monstrous alien roared, and then growled at Shadow, "Why? Why can't you see, Shadow? These humans are the parasites of this world! Absolute power is the only way to bring order to this world… They cannot govern themselves! Open your eyes, and realize that siding with these weak humans was a mistake!"

"Chaos Spear!" Was Shadow's tactful rebuttal. A spear of energy flew through the air, and struck Black Doom right in the eye. With a screech, the alien teleported away. Shadow immediately gave chase, flying towards Doom. Chunks of rock and stone started being flung through the air at Shadow as he made his way…

The earpiece Shadow had equipped started to go off again. He had procured the thing from Eggman a while ago, and had been using it to keep in contact with him whilst he was trying to collect the Chaos emeralds. At this point, Eggman and the group with him were only using the system to keep in contact with Shadow, and while the hedgehog knew that nothing they said would really help him, or tell him things he didn't know…

He knew that they needed to feel like they were helping. In a situation where they felt helpless, they needed at least that.

… and he could just not respond to anything they said anyway. It made them feel better in dire circumstances…

He shortly heard Eggman's voice come in, "Shadow, the… the gas from the Comet, it's somehow made… its way into our shelter…"

This statement was followed by a coughing fit. Shadow went wide eyed, "Doctor, are you all right!? How is everyone else –"

There was coughing from a separate voice, and then, "I… can't move!" Amy.

"Wh-what do we… do? I can't… keep my eyes…" Tails' voice drifted off after that, no longer able to be heard…

"Shadow…" Rouge said, before going into a bout of coughing herself. After a moment, she continued, "Shadow… Don't worry about… us… Destroy that thing!"

All that Shadow could hear from the other side of the device was random coughing fits now…

He started to grind his teeth together, and with a burst of energy, flew at Black Doom at high speed. The alien was laughing as Shadow approached, a laughter that echoed loudly in every direction, and could easily be heard across the city of Westopolis.

"The time has come! Now that the gas has overrun this tainted world… My reign has begun!" Black Doom looked down towards the hedgehog, and said, "Shadow. Cease these futile attempts to resist. You alone cannot change this planet's fate!"

Shadow continued to grit his teeth. And then, he said, "Damn your fate! I don't care what I was created for! I don't care who created me! I don't care what you or anyone around me wants anymore! I am Shadow the Hedgehog… Ultimate Lifeform or not, I'm not letting you and that Comet remain here!"

And with that, he flung a Chaos Spear towards Black Doom's eye.

Black Doom fired a beam of energy from his mouth at the same moment, the attack overtaking the spear and hitting Shadow dead on. The hedgehog was sent miles back, and started falling towards the ground. Black Doom returned to laughing as the hedgehog fell, and then turned away, looking down at the city again…

Shadow started to slip out of consciousness. He hardly realized that he had failed, and that the world was doomed. He was slipping into a deceptively calm, dream like state. His life flashed before his eyes… This, sadly, did not last long. He simply did not remember enough on his own merit.

Before he could start pondering this as he drifted off, the voice of Eggman came in over the earpiece, "Shadow... can you hear me...? This might be the last chance I have to speak to you, so... What I said, about having created you..."

There was a pause as he coughed, and he continued…

"… it was all a lie. Everyone thought you died during that horrible incident... but I rescued you, with one of my robots... You lost your memories, that's all... You really are the Ultimate Life Form my grandfather created!"

Shadow was silent at this revelation, and Eggman said, quietly, "Shadow? Are you…" His voice stopped after that.

…

With a burst of golden light, Shadow flew upwards, new vigor running through him, and started launching spears of energy towards Black Doom repeatedly. The Black Arms' leader did not respond with words, as he seemed wont to do often, but instead responded with another echoing screech, and began using his powers to send debris flying at Shadow and in the way of his spears. Whilst Black Doom was convinced the rocks would distract the hedgehog, he started to gather energy in his mouth again.

He had underestimated Shadow's ability to dodge floating rocks. With a flash of blue, Shadow flew past every piece of debris, and delivered a punch directly to Black Doom's eye. Doom let loose another screech, clasping his claws over his eye.

Then, Shadow seemed to ball up in the air, and red energy started to gather around him. Black Doom moved his claws away from his eye, and immediately slammed them over Shadow, crushing him…

… Or completely failing to do so. There was an explosion of red energy from between the alien's claws, and his hands were violently blasted away, massive amounts of green blood and seared flesh sent flying about. Black Doom yelled out again, and glared, about to release a beam of energy from his mouth.

Shadow hovered where Doom's claws had been, a Chaos Spear in his hand. He glared, and without a word, launched the spear forward. It went right into the alien's eye.

Black Doom was knocked back, screeching and yelling. Then, he screamed out, "Impossible! I am the supreme being that rules over this universe! I am the immortal life form! I am the ultimate power! I –"

He didn't get to say anything else. Shadow flew after him, and kept firing Chaos Spears into the hole left where his eye used to be. Once the alien tyrant finally went silent, Shadow let his body fall to the surface. He turned, facing the Black Comet. Still tethered to the planet, like a sickly growth.

Shadow flew down, heading directly below the Comet.

"Only one thing left to do…"

There was likely to still be Black Arms on the Comet. And he didn't want to risk the possibility that Black Doom left some kind of contingency in place aboard the Comet in case this happened. It needed to be destroyed as soon as possible…

The Chaotix were still on board the ARK, weren't they? They could trigger the Eclipse cannon, if Shadow moved the Comet into position.

… They would need a power supply, though. Only the Emeralds could power the cannon…

He would need to do it all at once.

"Vector, Espio, Charmy, do you read me?"

Shadow collided with the bottom of the Comet, and placed his hands against it.

"Shadow! How's it going down there!? Did you kill that thing!? Did you find –"

"Shut up and listen, Vector! I'm going to Chaos Control the Black Comet in range for the Eclipse cannon!"

"What will that do? We can't power the cannon, it's…"

"I already thought of that, Espio. I will also use Chaos Control to move the Chaos Emeralds onto the ARK, into the room you're standing in."

"… You can do that, mister emo-hog? Isn't that, like… really far from where you are?"

"The Chaos Emeralds enhance my abilities – what did you just call me – Nevermind! I'm going to put the Comet in position for you to shoot it down, and send the Chaos Emeralds! Are you ready!?"

"Whenever you are, oh captain my captain! And then we can find the –"

Shadow stopped listening after that. He started to focus all of his power together. The seven Chaos Emeralds then appeared, hovering in the air around himself.

He stopped, for a moment, to reflect on his life. Or, what he knew of it. He was awoken from a dreamless slumber, not remembering anything, and believing that he was only a robot. He helped Omega and Rouge go after Eggman, each of them with a separate goal concerning the Doctor. He ended up helping Sonic fight a giant blue robot, and the Doctor got away.

Then, he was rather randomly approached by an alien that claimed to know everything about his past. And then ended up having to juggle between dealing with Eggman, GUN, and the invading Black Arms race, whilst collecting the Chaos Emeralds.

… Did he really learn anything? He looked at each emerald in turn, and then up at the Comet. Black Arms started to slowly descend from the Comet, in small numbers, likely still confused over Black Doom's recent death. He needed to act.

… All he learned was that he was made to be a tool. Everyone involved in his life wanted to use him for something. Or, that was the gist that he got of it. Black Doom wanted to use him to find the Chaos Emeralds. Gerald wanted to use him to create a cure for his granddaughter's disease, and to further use him to stop the Black Arms return. Maria left him with that promise, to help everyone be happy. Help everyone, and be used to give everyone else a chance.

He knew that Maria meant something to him, but he simply did not remember it. He was recounted the events, but that was not the same as remembering these things. Simply being told that Maria was special was not enough. Simply being told that Gerald cared about him was not enough. He never experienced it.

He heaved a final sigh. He had no idea how outputting this much energy would affect him. What it would do to his body. And, he was certain he wouldn't be able to fly once he no longer had the Chaos Emeralds…

… But, even if he didn't remember it, he made a promise.

The Ultimate Lifeform would not go back on a promise.

"Chaos Control!"

A bright flash of golden light, and the Comet left the surface. With seven smaller flashes, the emeralds left as well.

From a distance, you might have seen a small object falling from the sky where the Comet had been. No one would have seen it, sadly. No one had recovered from the gas yet.

The object hit the ground.

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><p><strong>AN:** What? Shadow dead in the first chapter? What madness and sorcery is this?

So, anyways. A retelling of the final battle from the "Shadow the Hedgehog" game, but with plenty of artistic leniency taken throughout. I used dialogue from the actual fight, and had Shadow kill Doom via attacking the big glowy eye. Past that, I didn't really try that hard to stick to the actual structure of the fight in the game.

Please, if you will, leave a review. They make all of my word-vomiting on your screen worthwhile to me.

Thanks for reading, and see you next chapter.

- Divine Angle


	2. An Air of Hostility

**A/N:** Apologies for how long this update took. A myriad of events led to this delay, but the major factor was having to rewrite various elements of the chapter three times over. It took me a while to reach a point where I was satisfied enough to consider posting, and a few more edits after that.

I sincerely hope you enjoy what you read.

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><p><strong>An Air of Hostility<br>**

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><p>Bricks and debris were pushed away from the crumbling entrance of what used to be an apartment complex. Shadow the Hedgehog pulled himself from the wreckage, and looked around.<p>

… This city looked like it had been through heck, to put it simply. Parts of streets had collapsed, buildings were falling apart… And the sirens. Sirens, flashing lights, and screams of agony. It was not a pleasant visage to wake up to.

"… Where am I?" Shadow looked in every direction. More of the same carnage spread across this city. It would take a while to rebuild from… whatever had happened. Where was he? What had happened here? What was going on?

He began walking along, stepping over random chunks of concrete and asphalt, and avoiding any craters. As he walked, people would stop to look at him. Shadow didn't appreciate it, and kept his gaze forward and away. Not that he really had a forward to follow, as he had no sense of where he was or where he should go. Aimless wandering was all he could think to do at the moment. Honestly, he was hardly thinking. He was simply searching for something that looked like it could answer his questions.

Some people that glanced at him started talking amongst themselves, and to each other. Which made Shadow more uncomfortable than a moment ago. Beforehand, he could attribute the stares to him being out of place amongst the more humanoid beings. Now they were just being rude, pointing and staring at him like that. He wanted to say something, but he was outnumbered by these humanoids, realistically.

He kept walking along, but somebody got in his way just before he could turn a corner. It was a child, someone that was assumedly his mother rushing over to get him.

"You did this! You and those other black monsters! I hate you!"

The child punched Shadow in the eye. The kid's mother quickly scooped him up and ran back across the ruined street before the hedgehog could react.

Shadow was in little to no pain. Perhaps stinging, but he recovered quickly. So he was resilient, he now knew. But that was less important information than the apparent idea that he was public enemy number one.

Black monsters? He had done this? He now was assailed with more questions than he had before. Aimless walking didn't seem to be helping, but he certainly wasn't going to stand in one place now. He looked around, noticing how many people were watching, waiting for him to react. He didn't know what his standing was, but he certainly couldn't overreact. Too many people watching. He looked away from them, and kept walking, turning the corner he was trying to get around before the interruption.

Shadow had a hard time pinning down his emotions at the moment, as he walked. He was not exactly afraid. He seemed resilient, and strong even, taking into account his ease of moving debris out of his way, and being punched in the eye with little after-effect. At the same time, he was rather uneasy. There was apparently a whole city of people that blamed him for their misfortunes and lost.

He needed to figure out what was going on, and see if there was anyone out here that could help him at all. Anyone that would be willing to aid a criminal like himself. Not that he thought he was a criminal, or that he was capable of this much destruction… But that child seemed convinced.

He kept moving down the street, avoiding anyone he saw, staying away from paramedics and law enforcement officers. Eventually, he turned into an alley. He was starting to think that hiding underneath all that rubble would have been a better solution. He was getting more glares than he would have liked. Too many questionable glances.

He leaned against the brick wall, and started weighing his options. Then, he recalled that he really had none. With no idea where he was, or who he could trust…

"Why the long face, handsome? Thought you were a hedgehog, not a horse…"

Shadow stood up instantly, looking towards the source of the voice. An albino furred bat was in the air in front of him, beating her wings, and in a laid back pose.

She chuckled, and said, "Lower the guns, hun. I'm not out for blood like the uninformed public."

Shadow blinked, and lowered his fists to his sides. Then, he asked, "Why should I trust someone I just met?"

The bat blinked, her smirk falling. "… Nice one, Shadow. Now quit the amnesiac act…"

The hedgehog glared, "I'm not acting. Who are you, and how do you know me?"

The bat sighed, her ears drooping as she lowered to the ground. "Well, at least you seem to remember your name… Come on, I'll explain when we get somewhere with less hostility in the air."

She extended her hand.

Shadow stared at it, considering. This was the only person he had seen so far that didn't greet him with a gnashing of teeth…

"Fine. Lead the way, and you better have answers." He did not take her hand, and waited for her to start moving.

The bat lowered her hand, and took flight, "Right, sure… come on." She set off. Shadow followed shortly behind her…

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><p>It hung over the planet, casting a shadow over the ruins of a city. Three flesh-like fetters held it in place, constantly pulsing and vibrating. Gasses rolled out of the fetters, filling the atmosphere of the planet. The comet was, for all intents and purposes, a parasite on a galactic level.<p>

Black Arms militia stalked the surface, weapons always at the ready. Airborne Black Arms filled the skies. The inhabitants of the planet were far fewer in number than the Black Arms at this point. They had no hope of rebellion.

These aliens that inhabited the planet naturally were simple creatures. They had would could be said to be green skin, golden eyes, and four arms. They all wore what Earthlings would compare to rags. They stayed at low elevations, and had to keep masks on constantly. It was the only way the gas wouldn't paralyze them all too fast.

Every now and then, someone stopped moving from the effects of the altered atmosphere. When this happened, Black Arms would drag them off wordlessly.

Perhaps that was the worst part. The Black Arms never spoke anymore. When this comet initially arrived, with Black Doom himself leading the assault, he spoke to the people constantly. Mostly threats as they attacked, but there was speech. Other Black Arms would speak on his behalf. They made noises.

Now, they were all quiet. You could hear a pin drop anywhere on the surface of the planet. It was a wholly unsettling atmosphere. A silent glare from one of those parasites would tell you that your life was over. Just walking amongst them was unnerving. They made no noise, and they would get angry when others made too much noise. Any time a riot of any form started, the Black Arms would resort to screeching as they killed left and right.

And then, silence again.

The inhabitants remained silent. They got to live, at least. However long their lives were. However unfulfilling. At least they lived. They knew they were to be farmed for as long as the Black Arms chose to do so, but they could at least try to enjoy what time they had.

The question often came up if there was a way to enjoy this. And, sadly, no one could say there was. They were desperately clinging to life, when life was hardly worth it anymore.

The comet itself hardly moved. As the fetters made weird pulsations and shifts, the comet would too. But, otherwise, it was an unmoving object that hung over their heads forever.

Aboard the comet was an odd mix of unimaginable amounts of noise, and a complete and total lack of any actual noise. Constant ambience without anything to fill it, per say. Black Arms were grown, raised and made en masse. The constant sounds of screeching could be heard from culling chambers, and the whirr and hums of machinery was a constant drone. Black Arms walked about performing their duties, but did not interact with each other. They did not have a reason to interact. Each individual Black Arm was just a single part of the larger parasite, and each part had a function to fulfill.

At the center of the comet, there was a sealed room. Sealed by Black Doom, in fact. It would open only when it was absolutely necessary, for the room existed only for the most dire of circumstances. Should Black Doom be, somehow, defeated, this specific comet had a failsafe.

Black Doom, in his time, did not like the idea of death. In fact, he feared it. It was the reason he strived for immortality. It was the reason he didn't care who died, so long as he lived. It was the reason he even considered working with a human scientist in the first place. The scientist's home world was a plentiful one in terms of resources, and the Chaos Emeralds were powerful artifacts.

Black Doom was already immortal when he did what he did, but invincibility was another story. Earth was an answer to that. Invincibility had been within grasp, and the human scientist was to help him attain that.

But, should he ever die, Black Doom did not want whatever killed him to live. So, he had created this room, and its contents, to ensure that vengeance would be his even in death.

The doors to the room opened.

Black Arms nearby stopped, and looked in.

The room itself was small and circular. There seemed to be flesh-like tentacles running across the ceiling of the room, and a large egg in the middle of the floor.

An eye opened in the middle of the mass of tentacles, revealing the existence of some form of Black Arm. It pulled itself from its resting place, extremities and all. It was a hovering eye, to put it simply. It started darting about and looking through the room.

The egg in the middle of the room burst open from the top, and three clawed hands pulled a figure out of it. The thing appeared to be a hovering upper-body of a Black Arm, with tendrils coming from the bottom of it that looked akin to blood vessels.

It opened three eyes, and looked at soldiers that were gathered at the door.

"... Black Doom must be avenged. Kill all of the inhabitants of this planet, and gather all the supplies we can carry. We will be cutting the fetters soon."

The thing's voice echoed through the corridors of the comet, and into the minds of all of the Black Arms on the planet. Without a warning of any kind on the surface, they began the massacre.

The thing watched the Black Arms run away from the door, and then said, "Bring me my robes. I will not bring about the Earth's apocalypse in the nude."

The thing pulled away from the remains of its egg, and floated towards screens that were starting to light up through the small room.

"… Shadow the Hedgehog, prepare yourself. Judgment day approaches. Black Death is coming."

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><p><strong>AN:** Shadow cannot hold onto his memories for a can of beans, can he? Poor guy.

Next update should not take nearly as long to post, as I now have a clear idea of how I want things to play out from the set up of this chapter.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, and make the practice worthwhile, as always. Also, thanks to everyone that has reviewed, faved, or followed so far. I very much appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Divine Angle


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